The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-04-29
ROTATION OF CROPS.
The Cheapest Way Of Maintaining the Fer
tility of the Soil.

/ VI Sn0Fos
The Cheapest Way OF Maintaining the Fer
tility of the Soil.
The value of rotation is no longer de
MED by any. 1t has long been accepted
as one Of the most important in con
serving the fertility of the soil. but
rotation to be valuable must INCLUDE
not only the smaller cereal grains. bu
as large a variety of cultivated crop
as possible. In connection with tn
foregoing, meadows and pastures ar,
the most important in assisting to re
store fertility. and in connection will
the great fallow crop of the Unitet
States, Indian corn. The fertility o
original fertile land may by thes'
means be kept up fully and indefinitely
All the small cereal grains are ex
hausting. aud none more SO than oats
of valuable constituents. A soil tina
will produce fifty bushels of oats pei
acre should produce twenty bushel!
Of wheat The oat crop will exhaust
nearly as much potash. nearly hal
as much of the phosphates. and
nearly fifty per cent. more nitrogen
! than the crop of wheat named. in the
grain. The value of straw rs manure
is about equal in each. but wheat is
always sold to be carried away from
the farm. while oats may or should be
fed at home. Hence a large amount
of the valuable fertilizing materials
are returned to the soil rs manure il
carefully saved. The reason why In
dian corn is SD little exhausting to the
soil is that it is nearly all fed on the
farm. and the stalks. being fed off in
the fields, these and the manure drop
ped are again plowed under. Another
reason why Indian corn is not excess
sively exhausting to the soil is that it
contains more largely of carbon and
less of phosphate and nitrogen. but
more potash. Neither the elements of
carbon-starch, sugar, oil. etc.-nOr
potash are deficient in fertile soils,
neither do they wear out so easily as
the phosphates and aibuminoids. or,
as the latter may be properly classed.
nitrogen. Indian corn also must re-
ceive clean and careful cultivation, in
order to produce good crop. Hence
it is the cheapest and best fallOw or
cleaning crop known to American aSS-
riculture.
Flax is generally classed rs an ex-
hausting crop. 1t is not especially so.
however, certainly not more so than
wheat and oats, ifreaped and the straw
is returned to the soil. 1t. however,
unless especially cleaned. brings into
the soil all manner of foul weeds. diff
cult to eradicate. The difficulty with
Il rotation that includes only the small
cereal grains and flax is, these grains
are constantly exhausting the soil Of
one class of constituents. and largely of
the more difficult to replace. phosphorus
and nitrogen. The great value of
pasture, then, is that nearly Ill the
manure made is returned directly to
the soil, and the manure made from
the hay of meadows may easily be re-
turned. The true value of straw on
the farm is as an absorbent of the liquid
manure, more valuable by far than
that of the solids.
Plenty of pastures and plenty Of In
dian corn. therefore. are the most valu-
able in the long run in the rotation of
crops. These conserve, while the sell
ing of cereal grain carries away fertil-
ity that can never be replaced for the
price of that carried away. unless the
land is cultivated to other crops to such
an extent as to allow the soil naturally
to rccuperate. In the West, or on any
virgin soils not less than three-quar-
tiers IF the land should he in pasture.
meadow and fallow crops one year with
another, to hold the full fertility of
the soil. In order to fully accomplish
this, all the manure should be saved
ana again be car:ed onto the SOIL
Farm, Field and Stock;mdn.